Avery Hill Park

Avery Hill Park is one of Eltham's great open spaces: wide, rolling parkland dotted with splendid mature trees, with plenty of room for a long walk, a kickabout or a picnic. It holds a Green Flag Award, and the Green Chain Walk passes straight through. Its star attraction is the winter garden, a magnificent Victorian glasshouse full of tropical trees and plants from around the world. It survives from the mansion of John Thomas North, who made his fortune in Chilean fertiliser, and is now looked after by the University of Greenwich. Nearby, the rose and flower garden is a peaceful spot to sit. For families there's a children's playground with a café and toilets beside it, an outdoor gym, table tennis tables, a floodlit multi-use games area and cricket pitches, plus a shared walking and cycling route around the edge of the park.